While detergents made utilizing biodegradable surfactant intermediates, such as alkyl benzenes, 2-alkyl alcohols (e.g., Isalchem®, Sasol), and primarily linear alcohols (Neodol®, Shell), exist today, these surfactant intermediates are all made from conventional feedstocks, such as petroleum-derived ethylene, kerosene, or other petrol materials. There is also substantial use of fats and oils to product fatty alcohol-derived surfactant intermediates. There is also an ongoing effort to convert fats and oils and waste fats and oils to hydrocarbons for use in making surfactants. Waste plastic feedstocks, however, have not been identified as viable for conversion into surfactant intermediates and surfactants. Due to the growing environmental concerns over fossil fuel extraction, economic concerns over exhausting fossil fuel deposits, and the growing global problem of plastic waste in garbage dumps, waterways, and oceans, there is a need for an alternative use for plastic waste. As a feedstock, waste plastic has now been surprisingly found to have desirable properties for making surfactant intermediates, such as paraffins, olefins, alkylbenzenes, and oxo alcohols, and their corresponding surfactants for use in detergent products. The waste plastic converted by various processes to a waste plastic feedstock for the above materials may either be used alone or in combination with traditional surfactant feedstocks, such as kerosene, polyolefins derived from natural gas, coal, crude oil or even biomass, or waste fat/oil-derived paraffin and olefin, to produce biodegradable surfactants for use in detergents and other industries (thereby providing a benefit to society). The waste plastic is typically converted via pyrolysis to a waste plastic feedstock, thereby removing waste plastic from the environment.
Accordingly, there is a need to provide methods for producing linear and branched paraffins, linear and branched olefins, linear and branched alkyl benzenes, linear and branched oxo alcohols, linear and branched alkyl amines, and the surfactants derived from these surfactant intermediates (including blends of linear and branched intermediates) from a feed source that includes waste plastic feedstock, either alone or in combination with another feedstock(s), as disclosed herein, such as kerosene. It is also desirable to provide detergent ingredients made from waste plastic feedstock, either alone or in combination with another feedstock(s), as disclosed herein.
Moreover, it has been found that waste plastic feedstock has many desirable properties for producing linear and branched paraffins, linear and branched olefins, linear and branched alkyl benzenes, linear and branched oxo alcohols, linear and branched alkyl amines, and the surfactants derived from these surfactant intermediates (including blends of linear and branched intermediates), such as olefin and paraffin sulfonates, alkylbenzene sulfonate, and sulfates as well as ethoxylated sulfates derived from the oxo alcohols, as compared to traditional feedstock(s) used today and disclosed herein, e.g., kerosene feedstock.